ISSUE FOCUS 52 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE April 2023 MYCOTOXIN SCREENING: THE KEY TO MYCOTOXIN MANAGEMENT With multi-mycotoxin contamination becoming a global issue, mycotoxin management is crucial to protecting herd health and reducing economic losses. Randox Food Diagnostics screening solutions can detect up to 9 mycotoxins simultaneously from a single sample, providing a crucial component of a mycotoxin management program. Mycotoxin management is crucial to protecting herd health, as contaminated feed can have a significant impact on the health and productivity of animals. When cattle consume feed contaminated with mycotoxins, they may experience a range of issues, including reduced milk production, reproductive problems, and weakened immune systems. For example, aflatoxin B1 concentrations above 120 ppb in dairy feeds has been shown to cause a 25% drop in milk production. Mycotoxins can also cause acute or chronic illness, leading to weight loss, diarrhoea, and in severe cases death. Additionally, mycotoxins can compromise the quality of milk and meat produced by cattle, posing a risk to human health. Multi-mycotoxin contamination is becoming a global issue, which can be seen in the 2022 DSM World Mycotoxin Survey. Of the 27,297 samples analysed, 57% were found to be contaminated with more than one mycotoxin. Specifically, North America, South America, China, and Taiwan’s risk of mycotoxins were classified as ‘extreme’ by the survey. With the rise in occurrence of multi-mycotoxin contamination in crops, this issue can be seen in animal feed as well. Research in European countries found that 75–100% of the feed samples they analysed contained more than one mycotoxin. Preventing mycotoxin contamination is almost impossible, however it is necessary for producers to implement a comprehensive mycotoxin management program to moderate these risks along the animal feed supply chain. To mitigate the effects of mycotoxins and as part of a mycotoxin management program, it is important to regularly screen feed for mycotoxins. The economic costs and impact on the international trade associated with mycotoxin contamination are difficult to assess. There have been estimations of economic losses associated with mycotoxin contamination in animal feed, corn and other crops. These estimations range from hundreds of millions to billions of USD annually and are a combination of market, livestock and crop losses due to ill health and crop spoilage. Overall, the global economic impact of mycotoxins is Dr. Liberty Sibanda Applications Manager Randox Food Diagnostics Ltd.
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